Tag Archives: whaling

The seventh season of “Whale Wars” — a three-hour presentation
premiering on Friday — follows on the heels of an unresolved
contempt-of-court ruling against Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
earlier this month.

The new program, to be shown at 5 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. on
Animal Planet network, documents the 2013-2014 Antarctic whaling
season and the sometimes-violent confrontation between Sea Shepherd
and Japanese whalers. Check out the
Sneak Preview.

While Sea Shepherd faces some serious court rulings, the
Japanese government finds itself in conflict with the International
Court of Justice, which concluded that its “scientific” whaling
program does not conform to scientific principles — which was the
legal justification for the program — so the whaling must stop, at
least for now. See
Water Ways, March 24, 2014.

Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, appears to have ticked off
the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which first called his
group a “pirate” operation in December 2012. The court issued an
injunction to keep Sea Shepherd ships at least 500 feet away from
the Japanese whaling vessels. (See
Water Ways, Feb. 26, 2013.)

In its latest ruling on Dec. 19, the court says Watson and Sea
Shepherd’s U.S. board of directors acted contrary to its injunction
by shifting their anti-whaling operations over to the related group
Sea Shepherd, Australia. In the court’s view, Watson should have
done what was necessary to halt the anti-whaling tactics, not find
a way to continue them. As
Judge Milan D. Smith, Jr. wrote in his findings (PDF 127
kb):

“Sea Shepherd US’s separation strategy effectively nullified our
injunction by ensuring that OZT (Operation Zero Tolerance)
proceeded unimpeded, in part by using former Sea Shepherd US
assets. Sea Shepherd US ceded control over OZT to Sea Shepherd
Australia and other Sea Shepherd entities it believed to be beyond
the injunction’s reach, knowing these entities were virtually
certain to violate the injunction.

“At the same time, Sea Shepherd US continued to provide
financial and other support for OZT after the injunction by, among
other things, transferring for no consideration a vessel and
equipment worth millions of dollars to Sea Shepherd Australia and
other entities…

“Rather than instruct its employees to help prevent OZT, Sea
Shepherd US effectively shifted these employees to its affiliates’
payrolls to ensure continued participation in a campaign it knew
was very likely to result in violations of the injunction…

“Our objective in issuing the injunction was to stop Sea
Shepherd from attacking the plaintiffs’ vessels. Sea Shepherd US
thwarted that objective by furnishing other Sea Shepherd entities
with the means to do what it could not after the issuance of the
injunction. It has long been settled law that a person with notice
of an injunction may be held in contempt for aiding and abetting a
party in violating it.”

These court findings were all related to Operation Zero
Tolerance, the Sea Shepherd campaign that ended in March of 2013.
The ruling did not address Operation Relentless, which ended in
March of 2014 and is the subject of Friday’s “Whale Wars” event. I
wonder if Japan will attempt to use the U.S. courts to collect for
damages related to the latest conflict.

The International Court of Justice ruling against the Japanese
whaling operations seems to have had no effect on how the U.S.
Court of Appeals views Sea Shepherd’s actions. Sea Shepherd’s
activities were still illegal, the court ruled, and the injunction
would still be needed if the whaling were to resume under
conditions acceptable to the international court. See
“order denying defendants’ motion to dismiss” (PDF 308 kb).

In fact, although whaling was suspended for the 2014-15 season,
the Japanese government has submitted a new plan
(PDF 2.3 mb) to resume whaling at this time next year. The plan
calls for an annual harvest of 333 minke whales — as opposed to the
previous plan to take 850 minkes, 50 humpbacks and 50 fin whales.
For additional insight on the controversy, read Dennis Normile’s
piece in
Science Insider, affiliated with Science magazine.

As for the upcoming “Whale Wars” special, a
news release from Animal Planet says the action will be as
exciting as ever, even with Paul Watson gone from the scene:

“With Captain (Peter) Hammarstedt once again at the helm and
tensions with the whalers at an all-time high, this new campaign
will likely be the most aggressive and dangerous the Sea Shepherds
have faced.”

This episode of “Whale Wars” was produced by Lizard Trading
Company, using raw footage filmed by Sea Shepherd crew members.
That’s similar to the arrangement for last year’s two-hour special.
(See
Water Ways, Nov. 7, 2013.)

Japanese whalers who hunt whales in the Antarctic can no longer
justify their actions as “scientific research” and must stop their
annual whale roundup, according to a ruling by the International
Court of Justice.

The court ruled today that Japan’s so-called “research” does not
meet ordinary scientific standards. The court ordered Japan to stop
killing whales under the guise of its research program, called
JARPA II. As stated in a 73-page finding
(PDF 649 kb) supported by 12 of the 16 judges:

“Taken as a whole, the Court considers that JARPA II involves
activities that can broadly be characterized as scientific
research, but that the evidence does not establish that the
programme’s design and implementation are reasonable in relation to
achieving its stated objectives.

“The Court concludes that the special permits granted by Japan
for the killing, taking and treating of whales in connection with
JARPA II are not ‘for purposes of scientific research’ pursuant to
Article VIII, paragraph 1, of the Convention (the International
Convention for the Regulation of Whaling).”

In the legal action brought before the United Nations court by
Australia, the judges carefully scrutinized the JARPA II methods
and procedures. They found that the sampling procedure and lethal
take of minke, fin and humpback whales falls short of legitimate
scientific study in many regards:

“The fact that the actual take of fin and humpback whales is
largely, if not entirely, a function of political and logistical
considerations, further weakens the purported relationship between
JARPA II’s research objectives and the specific sample size targets
for each species — in particular, the decision to engage in the
lethal sampling of minke whales on a relatively large scale.”

“Examining Japan’s decisions regarding the use of lethal
methods, the court finds no evidence of any studies of the
feasibility of or the practicability of non-lethal methods, either
in setting the JARPA II sample sizes or in later years in which the
programme has maintained the same sample size targets. The court
also finds no evidence that Japan examined whether it would be
feasible to combine a smaller lethal take and an increase in
non-lethal sampling as a means to achieve JARPA II’s research
objectives.”

After the ruling, Koji Tsuruoka, Japan’s representative at the
court, addressed reporters at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
According to a report by
Australian Associated Press, Tsuruoka stated:

“Japan regrets and is deeply disappointed that JARPA II … has
been ruled by the court as not falling within the provisions of
Article 8. However, as a state that respects the rule of law, the
order of international law and as a responsible member of the
global community, Japan will abide by the decision of the
court.”

He said Japanese officials would need to digest the judgment
before considering a future course of action. He refused to discuss
whether a new research program could be crafted to allow whaling to
resume.

Australian officials were careful not to gloat over the victory
as they emphasized the need to maintain favorable relations with
Japan. Bill Campbell, Australia’s general counsel in the case, was
quoted by the AAP:

“The decision of the court today, important as it is, has given
us the opportunity to draw a line under the legal dispute and move
on.”

The ruling was welcomed by environmental groups, including Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society, which has sent ships to the
Antarctic to directly confront the whaling ships and interfere with
their whaling activities, as seen on the television show “Whale
Wars.” Capt. Alex Cornelissen of Sea Shepherd Global had this to
say in a
news release:

“With today’s ruling, the ICJ has taken a fair and just stance
on the right side of history by protecting the whales of the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and the vital marine ecosystem of
Antarctica, a decision that impacts the international community and
future generations. Though Japan’s unrelenting harpoons have
continued to drive many species of whales toward extinction, Sea
Shepherd is hopeful that in the wake of the ICJ’s ruling, it is
whaling that will be driven into the pages of the history
books.”

For the past several years, June has brought us a new television
season of “Whale Wars.” But this year the production has been
delayed, and nobody seems to know when the show is likely to
air.

Whale Wars, of course, is the weekly documentary showing
confrontations on the high seas, as Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society tries to stop Japanese whaling in the Antarctic.

As I reported in January (Water
Ways, Jan. 4), Sea Shepherd hired its own film crew during this
past whaling season (summer in the Antarctic, winter here). At the
time, it seemed like the group did so to be able to control the
filming. But in a new blog entry in
The New Yorker, Raffi Khatchadourian suggests that it was the
Animal Planet producers who got cold feet, given the Ninth Circuit
Court injunction that prevented Sea Shepherd from getting within
500 feet of the Japanese ships.

The U.S. affiliate of Sea Shepherd and Capt. Paul Watson himself
withdrew from the anti-whaling campaign, leaving in charge the
Australian affiliate, which is not subject to U.S. court
jurisdiction.

Brian Eley, senior communications manager for Discovery Channel,
responded to my inquiry yesterday, saying it isn’t clear when
Season 6 of “Whale Wars” will air. Footage was delayed this year
“through no fault of anyone.”

This year’s encounters between Japanese whalers and Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society appear to be the most violent of any year so
far — and the whaling season is not yet over.

As I described in the previous entry in Water Ways, which I just
completed, legal action against Sea Shepherd has caused few
substantive changes in these high-seas confrontations. That’s
because Sea Shepherd has transferred all such operations from its
U.S. organization and to its Australian organization. The move
effectively removes jurisdiction by the U.S. government, according
to Sea Shepherd reports, mentioned in the previous blog post.

So let’s catch up on actions so far this year in the Southern
Ocean between Sea Shepherd and the Institute of Cetacean Research.
As I reported in January
(Water Ways, Jan. 4), Sea Shepherd has added the 184-foot SSS
Sam Simon, a former Japanese government ship, to its flotilla. The
fleet now includes four primary vessels: the Sam Simon, Steve
Irwin, Bob Barker and Brigitte Bardot, as well as several unmanned
surveillance aircraft.

Kozinski, chief judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals,
concluded in a ruling today that U.S. District Judge Richard Jones
had made “numerous, serious and obvious errors” when he declined to
issue an injunction against Sea Shepherd for its high-seas battle
against Japanese whalers.

The three-judge panel ordered that the case be removed from
Jones’ jurisdiction and turned over to another Seattle district
judge drawn at random.

Meanwhile, the Institute of Cetacean Research — the Japanese
whaling organization — continues its effort to get a
contempt-of-court citation issued against Sea Shepherd, which has
increased its efforts to disrupt Japanese whaling in the Southern
Ocean.

Sea Shepherd remains under a U.S. Court of Appeals injunction,
which requires that the organization’s ships operate safely and
stay 500 yards away from the Japanese vessels.

I’ll provide an update on Sea Shepherd’s activities in a
separate blog post, but let me first tell you more about Kozinski’s
ruling (PDF 238 kb), which finds nothing commendable about any
of Sea Shepherd’s actions.

Well, it’s that time of year again. The Japanese whaling fleet
is headed toward the Antarctic to kill whales, and Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society is waiting with an increased armada to
frustrate the whaling effort.

The level of intrigue has increased substantially this year, as
Capt. Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd has become an international
fugitive and Sea Shepherd finds itself under a U.S. court order to
maintain a safe distance from the Japanese fleet.

Even the television show “Whale Wars” could be different this
year, as Sea Shepherd has hired its own camera crew. That move has
left network executives at Animal Planet somewhat uncertain about
the upcoming sixth season of the show.

Japan’s Kyodo
News reported that the Japanese “research whaling fleet” left
the Shimonoseki Port in Western Japan last Friday. The Japan
Times reported that the Japanese Fisheries Agency has
authorized a take of up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales this
year.

Sea Shepherd crews departed for the Southern Ocean in
mid-December with four vessels, including the latest addition — the
184-foot SSS Sam Simon, a former Japanese government vessel once
used for meteorological research. The formidable ship, which has a
hull strengthened for ice, was purchased for Sea Shepherd by the
co-creator of “The Simpsons.” Read more in
Sea Shepherd’s news release.

Meanwhile, Sea Shepherd’s leader, Paul Watson, was arrested in
Frankfort, Germany, last May on charges relating to an incident in
Central America in 2002. He was released on bail but failed to
check in the following month, as required by conditions of his
release. Siobhan Dowling reported on the incident for
The Guardian.

In December, Paul told
Associated Press reporter Manuel Valdes that he wanted to stay
at sea. He contends that the Costa Rican government was pressured
by Japan to seek his extradition.

“I want to stay in the ocean. I’m not going to be able to do
that from some holding cell in Japan,” Watson, who now has no
passport, was quoted as saying.

On Dec. 13, the U.S. State Department issued a joint
statement with the governments of Australia, the Netherlands
and New Zealand calling for vessels in the Southern Ocean to
observe international collision-avoidance rules:

“We are deeply concerned that confrontations in the Southern
Ocean will eventually lead to injury or loss of life among
protestors, many of whom are nationals of our countries, and
whaling crews…

“We remain resolute in our opposition to commercial whaling,
including so-called ‘scientific’ whaling, in particular in the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary established by the International
Whaling Commission, and are disappointed about the recent departure
of the Japanese whaling fleet for the Southern Ocean.”

“We at Sea Shepherd have no problem with this. We haven’t
sustained any serious injury nor have we caused any injury at sea
in 33 years and certainly not in the last six voyages to the
Southern Ocean.

“What the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society welcomes, however,
is the fact that the statement issued by the four nations clearly
condemns the illegal whaling activities of the Japanese whaling
fleet. This statement validates and encourages Sea Shepherd
intervention during Operation No Compromise this year.”

But Sea Shepherd faced a new turn of events on Dec. 17, when the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a preliminary injunction
prohibiting Sea Shepherd — and Paul Watson specifically — from
“physically attacking” the Japanese whaling fleet or from
“navigating in a manner that is likely to endanger the safe
navigation of any such vessel.”

The order (PDF 37 kb) prohibits Sea Shepherd from getting any
closer than 500 yards to the Japanese ships. The injunction will
remain in effect until a final ruling is issued by the U.S.
District Court, which could come about the end of this year.

A well-written analysis of the hearing before the Court of
Appeals was provided by June Williams of Courthouse
News Service. An audio
recording of the lively hearing is available from the Ninth
Circuit’s website.

“It looks like the Japanese whaling fleet is ready to rumble,”
Watson responded in a
written commentary issued the same day the injunction was
announced. He continued:

“It is a complex situation whereby a United States court is
issuing an injunction against Dutch and Australian vessels carrying
an international crew, operating out of Australia and New Zealand
in international waters and the waters of the Australian Antarctic
Economic Zone. In addition, the court has ignored the fact that the
Japanese whalers are in contempt of a court order by the Australian
Federal Court and the whaling takes place in the Southern Ocean
Whale Sanctuary.

“We will defend these whales as we have for the last eight years
– non-violently and legally.”

So now the stage is set for another confrontation in the
Southern Ocean. As the whaling season goes on, we’ll get the usual
conflicting news releases from Sea Shepherd and the Japanese
whalers. But how the events are portrayed on the television program
“Whale Wars” may be influenced by a change in film crew.

Before the ships’ departure, Sea Shepherd advertised for its own
film crew to replace an independent crew previously used by Animal
Planet. Officials with the network confirmed to me that they do not
have a film crew on board at this time.

How this will play out for the show “Whale Wars” is yet to be
seen, but Sea Shepherd apparently intends to provide footage to the
show’s producers.

Animal Planet spokesman Brian Eley told me that the network
plans to air a sixth season of “Whale Wars,” but the two parties
are still working out some critical details. Animal Planet owns the
name “Whale Wars,” the show’s format and everything that goes with
it.

The program is important to both organizations. “Whale Wars”
helped transform Animal Planet from a children’s channel to an
adult network, and the program has served the goals of Sea Shepherd
almost beyond belief.

Brian said it is important to Animal Planet to maintain
editorial control over “Whale Wars” with a documentary format and a
“neutral point of view.”

“Every year, there are certain things that they (Sea Shepherd
officials) disagree with over how we portray them,” he said. “But
we have a good relationship with them, and I think people like the
show the way it is.”

Brian did not seem to think it was too late to get an
independent film crew on board, which would be the preference of
Animal Planet executives.

He concurred that this was a “banner year for legality” facing
Sea Shepherd, but Animal Planet is not caught up in that drama. The
network has been careful to simply document the group’s activities,
he said, not influence what the group does or does not do.

The Japanese whaling fleet killed 266 Antarctic minke whales
this year, compared to a government quota of 850, plus one fin
whale, compared to a quota of 50, according to Michihiko Kano,
Japan’s minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The Mainichi Daily News, based in Japan, reports that the low
numbers were attributed to bad weather but noted that Sea Shepherd
obstructed the whaling operations 11 times during the season.
—–

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has completed another year of
battling Japanese whaling ships in the Antarctic, and again this
year a camera crew was on board its ships to film a new season of
“Whale Wars.” The new season of the TV show will begin in June.

The Japanese whaling vessel
Yushin Maru 2 shoots its water cannons at a Sea Shepherd
inflatable, which had approached it.Photo by Billy Danger, Sea Shepherd

The Japanese government reportedly provided $30 million from its
tsunami and earthquake relief fund to continue the whaling, which
the government allows as “scientific research.” The ban on whaling
includes an exemption for research, but the International Whaling
Commission has failed to preclude the commercial sale of meat from
“research” animals. The result has been an ongoing dispute about
whether commercial whaling should be considered research.

Needless to say, Sea Shepherd does not consider it research. For
the past eight years, the whale-advocacy group has followed the
whaling fleet and disrupted the hunt whenever possible.

For much of the recent whaling season, which began in December,
Sea Shepherd was able to divert the attention of two harpoon ships
and a security vessel. Sea Shepherd’s leader, Paul Watson, said the
whalers ignored their own protocols this year by going to the same
area as last year:

“This illustrates that they really have no scientific agenda at
all since their so-called survey requires them to ‘sample’ whales
from the two different areas alternatively each year. This is not
about science and it never has been. It’s not even about profit
anymore because we have negated their profits. It’s simply about
pride. Whaling in the Southern Ocean has become a heavily
subsidized welfare project for an archaic industry that has no
place in the twenty-first century.”

The following chronology was compiled from reports issued by Sea
Shepherd and by the Japanese Institute for Cetacean Research:Continue reading →

Izumi Stephens of Bainbridge Island, who appeared in the program
“Whale Wars” last year, has returned to her native Japan as a “Cove
Guardian” for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Izumi
Stephens

Izumi left yesterday, traveling with her daughter Fiona, who
will be 14 in April and who shares her mother’s passion to save
whales and dolphins.

Cove
Guardians are volunteers who document and photograph the
slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan, a town made famous by the
award-winning documentary “The
Cove.”

I talked to Izumi Wednesday before she flew out. She was excited
and a little nervous. As a Japanese citizen who has lived in the
United States 19 years, she was not sure how she would be received
by Japanese residents when she stands alongside Sea Shepherd
volunteers.

A year ago at this time, Izumi was serving aboard the Sea
Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin as it followed Japanese whaling ships
and disrupted their activities in the Southern Ocean of Antarctica.
Izumi translated messages between the Japanese whalers and Sea
Shepherd and helped coordinate coverage by Japanese reporters.

Izumi was the first Japanese translator who did not conceal her
identity from the photographers filming “Whale Wars,” a weekly
reality program on Animal Planet. Izumi appeared in several scenes
but was not a major character. Check out my initial story for the
Kitsap Sun on Oct. 31, 2010, with follow-up reports on Water
Ways:
Jan. 4, 2011 …
Feb. 22, 2011 … and
June 1, 2011.

Izumi says her language skills may come in handy in Taiji. Also,
her understanding of Japanese values may help her build a “bridge
of understanding” with the Japanese people. Many see no difference
between killing dolphins and killing fish to eat, she said, yet
dolphins are intelligent mammals, and the rate of hunting cannot be
sustained.

“To them, killing dolphins is a tradition,” she said, “but every
country has its horrible traditions. Spain gave up the bull fight,
and Japan can give up this.”

Izumi said her daughter Fiona put together a school project
about the anti-whaling conflict last year, so she understands the
arguments on both sides.

Cove Guardians say they are careful to obey the local laws as
they document the daily killing of dolphins, which they claim is
about 20,000 per year. Besides documenting and filming the deaths
of dolphins and the movement of fishing boats, the general goal is
to create a sense of shame among the hunters and local residents,
they say.

Suzanne West of Seattle, whose husband Scott is coordinating
Cove Guardians in Japan, said Izumi may receive increasesd
attention from the Japanese media. Some people will be surprised at
her opposition to the hunt. By now, most Japanese are fairly used
to seeing Western visitors speaking in opposition to the events in
Taiji, said Suzanne, who coordinates efforts in the U.S.

“A big thing is making them aware that the world is watching,”
Suzanne said. “We got a lot of footage last year of them actually
killing the dolphins.”

Now, the hunters are conducting the slaughter behind tarps, she
noted, “but we can still count the actual bodies going in with none
coming out.”

Izumi will return to Bainbridge Island on Thursday, March 1. Two
days later, she will participate in a gathering of Sea Shepherd
supporters at Casa Rojas Mexican restaurant, 403 Madison Ave., on
Bainbridge Island. The event is free, with donations going to Sea
Shepherd. For reservations, e-mail Seattle Sea Shepherd.

Izumi’s arrival in Japan coincides with the release from jail of
Cove Guardian Erwin Vermeulen of the Netherlands, who was arrested
in December during a pushing incident while trying to photograph
dolphins in the cove.

A judge ruled that Vermeulen should pay a fine of 1,000 euros
($1,315 U.S.), but he cannot leave Japan pending an appeal by the
prosecutor. Officials with Sea Shepherd say they may file formal
proceedings to protest the two-month detention for a minor crime.
See
Expatica News.

Update, Feb. 18: After I posted this blog
entry, I received an e-mail from Sea Shepherd’s media department
that provides additional details and clarifies the Expatica report.
See News
Release (PDF 24 kb)

The Institute of Cetacean Research, which manages Japan’s
whaling operations in the Antarctic, and Kyodo Senpaku, which owns
the whaling ships, are seeking a court order against Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society.

The goal: to block Sea Shepherd from its “numerous violent and
dangerous attacks against persons and vessels engaged in whaling,
sealing and fishing.”

The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Seattle,
claims the court has jurisdiction over matters between U.S. and
foreign citizens when the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.
Sea Shepherd is based in Washington state, thus the filing in our
region.

The ICR asserts that Sea Shepherd has violated international
treaties and laws, including the “Convention for the Suppression of
Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation” and the
“Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing
Collisions at Sea.”

The lawsuit alleges that tactics used by Sea Shepherd have
endangered Japanese whaling ships and their crews. Tactics listed
include throwing butyric-acid-filled bottles, smoke bombs and
incendiary devices; ramming one ship into another; and entangling
the propellers with ropes.

“Unless enjoined as requested below, defendants will very soon
engage in attacks on plaintiffs that will seriously endanger the
safety of the masters, their crew and researchers, and the vessels
owned by Kyodo Senpaku and chartered by ICR.

“Navigating in the Southern Ocean can be dangerous given the
cold waters, the presence of icebergs, the possibility of storms,
and its isolated location far from ready third-party assistance. If
a ship lost propulsion or steerage due to a successful fouling rope
attack, the ship, its Master, crew, and researchers could be put in
serious jeopardy, especially in the vicinity of floating ice or if
a storm or heavy seas occurred.

“The safety and health of the ship’s crew are endangered by the
launching of projectiles against the ship, especially glass
projectiles filled with butyric acid. A crew member could be
blinded in such an attack or receive a blow to the head or body or
be cut by pieces of glass. Such attacks also cause fear or distress
in the crew, thus interfering with the normal operations on board.
Incendiary devices like those launched in the past could cause a
fire or, even worse, an explosion. Close-quarter attacks by SSCS
vessels run the risk of a collision.

“Ramming of ICR’s and Kyodo Senpaku’s ships could cause them (or
SSCS vessels) to sink or suffer other serious damage. The court
should declare that defendants’ violent tactics employed in the
past against ICR’s and Kyodo Senpaku’s activities in the Southern
Ocean are unlawful, and the court should issue the injunctive
relief requested below so that plaintiffs’ property and the lives
of the Masters, their crew, and researchers are not
endangered.”

I have not talked to Paul Watson about this, but the Sea
Shepherd leader has commented in news stories that he is not
concerned about the lawsuit. Here’s what Watson said in a
press release from his organization:

“This is simply a case of using the courts to harass us. I don’t
believe they have a case and I doubt a U.S. court would take this
seriously. Unlike Japan, the courts in the United States don’t
automatically do what the government demands that they do.”

Watson claims in the press release that the whalers have been
the aggressors:

“We have the images of the Japanese whalers destroying one of
our ships, ramming our ships, running over our crew, firing upon
us, throwing concussion grenades, deploying acoustical weapons,
hitting us with water cannons and bamboo spears and they are suing
us because they are accusing us of violence towards them.”

In an article published yesterday (Monday), Watson told
Radio Australia that he almost welcomes the lawsuit:

“In fact, it’s actually a very positive thing because by filing
in a US court, that gives us the opportunity to counter sue them
for the destruction of the Ady Gil and for illegal whaling in the
Southern Ocean, so our lawyers are certainly going to take
advantage of this.”

Izumi Stephens of Bainbridge Island, now a full-fledged crew
member with Sea Shepherd, is looking forward to watching the fourth
season of “Whale
Wars,” which begins Friday.

Izumi
Stephens

A preview for the program shows Izumi standing on the deck of a
ship, gazing into the ocean with tears in her eyes. The clip is so
short that even she can’t recall when that emotional moment was
caught on film.

“It was probably when I saw a whale,” she said — though it could
have been during other events, such as when the Sea Shepherd crew
searched for a private yacht that had gone missing. Only an empty
lifeboat was found.

Izumi, who has not seen any of the final footage, said she
remained in an emotional state during much of the voyage through
the Southern Ocean, where Sea Shepherd did its best to disrupt the
operations of the Japanese whaling fleet.

Many crew members cried tears of happiness when they learned
that the Japanese whalers were packing up and leaving the Antarctic
a month earlier than normal, their efforts to catch whales
confounded by the anti-whaling group. The whaling would stop — at
least for this year — and Sea Shepherd crew members would return
home to their families.